The present invention is related to a construction article, and more particularly to a prop connecting ring which is fitted and bound on a construction prop for transversely connecting the props. The connecting ring can be freely mounted on the prop at any necessary height.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional prop 10 used in construction. The prop 10 has an elongated tubular body 11 fixedly connected with multiple ring bodies 12 at equal intervals. The top and bottom ends of the tubular body 11 are respectively provided with two adjustment seats 13. The projecting length of the adjustment seats 13 can be adjusted. Each ring body 12 is formed with multiple through holes 14.
In use, as shown in FIG. 2, the props 10 are positioned upright. Several connecting members 15 are connected at the through holes 14 of the ring bodies 12 to transversely connect two adjacent props. Accordingly, a number of props can be systematically connected to form a truss such as a scaffold for supporting moldboards.
In the case that the ground of a construction site is irregular and the drop of the ground exceeds the maximum extending length of the adjustment seats 13, the ring bodies 12 of the adjacent props 10 will be positioned on different levels as shown in FIG. 2. The distance between the props is fixed so that the connecting members 15 must be adjustable in length for connecting the props. Such adjustable connecting members are relatively expensive. Moreover, it is necessary to adjust the connecting members one by one. Such operation is quite troublesome. Also, in the case that the connecting members 15 have different lengths and the ring bodies 12 are positioned on different levels, the entire scaffold will bear uneven applied force. This leads to safety problem. In addition, The prop 10 is provided with multiple ring bodies 12 for connecting with the connecting member at different height. However, when transversely connecting the props, not all the ring bodies 12 are used. Therefore, many ring bodies are wasted and the cost is increased.
FIG. 3 shows another type of steel prop 19 for supporting moldboards. The inner tube 191 of such prop 19 can be nested into the outer tube 192 to adjust the length to a greater extent. However, such prop is not equipped with any ring body so that it can be only solely used in an upright state and it is impossible to transversely connect the adjacent props. Therefore, the props cannot be interconnected to form a systematic truss.
Recently, a connecting ring has been developed as shown in FIG. 4. The connecting ring 20 has a semicircular body 22 and a straight lever body 24 pivotally connected with the semicircular body 22 at one end, whereby the semicircular body 22 can be opened or closed relative to the lever body 24. A wedge binding bar 26 is passed through a free end of the semicircular body 22. In use, as shown in FIG. 5, the free end of the semicircular body 22 is passed through the other end of the lever body 24. Then, the connecting ring 20 is fitted around a prop 28. Then, the binding bar 26 is moved downward to fasten the semicircular body 22 and the lever body 24 on the prop 28. Accordingly, connecting members 29 can be connected at the through holes 23 of the semicircular body 22 to transversely connect the prop 28 with an adjacent prop.
However, such connecting ring 20 has some shortcomings as follows: First, as shown in FIG. 5, sections A and B of the connecting ring are fitted around the prop 28. The contacting area is limited so that the binding strength is poor and the connecting ring can hardly bear greater applied force. Furthermore, only a half side, that is, the left side in FIG. 5 of the connecting ring is formed with through holes 23 for connecting with the connecting member 29. The other side of the prop cannot be transversely connected with another prop. Therefore, in use, only four props 28 can be interconnected to form a rectangular truss, while it is impossible to systematically connect multiple props into a scaffold. Furthermore, the pivot ends of the semicircular body 22 and the lever body 24 tend to loosen so that the two components 22, 24 are likely to up and down swing due to the gap. As a result, the binding force for the prop is poor.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a prop connecting ring which can be freely fitted on the prop at any necessary height. Therefore, the ring bodies of two adjacent props can be positioned on the same level to facilitate connection of the props.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above prop connecting ring. With the prop connecting ring, it is no more necessary to weld connecting rings on the prop at equal intervals so that the number of the connecting rings can be reduced.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above prop connecting ring which serves to transversely connect steel props.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above prop connecting ring which has better clamping and binding force.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above prop connecting ring which enables the props to be multidirectionally connected to form a systematic scaffold.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above prop connecting ring by which the systematic scaffold has better supporting strength.
The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein: